The Song Remains The Same
by thisissparta789789
Summary: An anthology of past events in the lives of the girls and how they affect them today, even as zombies/idols. Sometimes, even as things change, the song of life will remain the same.
1. I’m Not Crazy (Saki)

_**March 10, 1997**_

"I think..." A worried Saki Nikaidou looked at her then-boyfriend of three years as the two talked together in a park alone. "Well... Juuzou..."

A black-haired boy around the same age as Saki told her, "I know about what happened during the high-rank meet in Dazaifu. It hurts, but I'm not gonna let myself get angry." He wore the uniform of an allied biker gang, the Primal Crusaders, that was mostly male, as opposed to the all-female Dorami.

"Damn it," Saki replied as she wiped some tears her eyes and chuckled. "You do know..." She then kicked the ground in frustration. "Juuzou, I... I think I'm bisexual."

Juuzou sighed. "Saki, I think you need time to yourself to explore this. The hardest part is that most of it isn't even your fault." He then hugged his soon-to-be ex-girlfriend. "I love you. Perhaps one day, our paths will cross again, but for now, this is goodbye."

"Wait," Saki stammered out. "Wha... What?!" She was shocked by his decision to break up.

"I was going to tell you this tomorrow," Juuzou replied to her as they split. "But I might as well tell you now." He then pulled out a letter he had gotten from a college. "I got accepted into my dream college in Osaka. Either way, we would probably have to say our goodbye's regardless of what happened in Dazaifu."

The leader of the Dorami gang was left speechless for almost half a minute. "I... I can't decide whether to be happy or to be sad. Juuzou, I won't hold you back." She then grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him in for a final kiss. As their lips met, sparks flew one last time between them. Then, as they split, something in Saki's body kept trying to lure him back in, but she resisted it. "I love you." She then held his left hand, noting a ring on it. "Please, promise me that you will never take this ring off."

"I won't," Juuzou replied as he walked away to get on his bike. As he turned it on, he took his Primal Crusaders jacket off. "I want you to keep this. Consider it a final gift." Saki nodded and took the jacket from him, folding it up before he drove off into the sunset towards downtown Saga.

Saki only stared in the direction he traveled in, unsure of what to say as tears kept falling from her eyes. Then, she fell to her knees. "No... It wasn't supposed to end like this. I was going to be Yokota Saki one day, and we were going to spend years with each other. It feels like my heart is ripping itself apart." She then quietly sobbed into his jacket.

* * *

 _ **Earlier, February 26, 1997**_

"So," Juuzou said to Saki over a payphone. "Is everything all settled for the new school year? Successors for those graduating and leaving all chosen?"

"Yeah," Saki replied. "There wasn't much drama this year, thankfully." Her last word began to trail off as she looked over at a girl from a smaller allied gang that was considering a merger with Dorami. The girl was two years older than Saki, had gray-white hair, and wore a rather tight-fitting black jacket. "I may have to go. I'll call you back later." Saki could not stop admiring her body for some reason, and began to blush.

"It's fine," Juuzou replied. "Saki, I love you."

In a rare moment, she slightly hesitated. Then, she replied in turn, "I love you, too." As she hung up the phone, she asked the girl, "Hey... Um..."

The girl looked over at her and smiled. "I saw the way you looked at me, Nikaidou-san. Why don't we get a drink?" She then extended a hand to her.

"Sure," Saki replied, taking the older girl's hand. "Hey, um, are you a lesbian or something?"

"I am, as a matter of fact," the older girl replied. "Doesn't the leader of Dorami have a boyfriend?" The look in her eyes confirmed that she was looking for some "fun," and Saki wanted to see what it was like.

"I...," the leader replied, now sweating from worry. "I..."

"It's fine," the older girl reassured her. "If at any point you don't feel comfortable, I'll stop. Don't worry about a thing. I wouldn't hurt anyone in bed, especially someone new to sex with another girl or in general."

Saki then sighed and smiled. "Okay then... I guess we can do some stuff."

* * *

 ** _March 30, 1997_**

As Saki and Reiko rode through Saga, coming home from a meet, they both passed an alleyway near a small park and noticed a group of about 4-5 huddled in a circle. Reiko noticed first and used a hand signal to tell Saki to stop. As the two turned off their bikes and got off, they looked over. Reiko asked her friend, "Saki-chan, what's going on over there?"

One of the guys in the group was overheard saying, "You're not so tough, okama!" A punching sound was then heard, startling both of them.

Saki ran over and yelled, "Who the fuck gave you the right to come onto our turf?!" As one of the guys turned around to reply to her, she punched him in the nose, causing blood to start pouring out, before she grabbed him with both hands by the collar and threw him to the ground. As he got up and scampered off, Saki asked the other four guys, "Anyone else wanna get their asses kicked by a high-school girl?"

"Screw this," one of them, the possible ringleader, said as he ran off, followed by the other three. "This ain't worth it!"

Saki extended a hand to the victim of the group, saying, "Hey, c'mon, man. They won't bother you anymore." The victim appeared to be around 16 and had shoulder-length brown hair.

They reached out and were helped up by Saki. As Reiko looked over, she asked, "Hey, what's up with the dress, dude?" Both she and Saki were confused as to why what they thought was a boy with longer than usual hair had a skirt. shorts, and t-shirt on.

"Well," the person they helped replied. "Thing is... My name is Riko, but most people call me Reiji. It's not that I don't like the name Reiji, it's just that..."

"They called you 'okama,' right?" Saki began to put two and two together. "They beat you up because you're a cross-dresser?"

"I'm a bit more advanced than that," Riko replied to her. "You see, I'm actually a transsexual, male-to-female specifically. They beat me up for being that."

Reiko and Saki looked at each other and nodded. "Hey, Riko-chan, if you want to be protected, you can join us." Saki turned around and revealed the logo of Dorami on her coat. "We at Dorami will accept anyone. I myself am bisexual, and we even have some lesbians." As she turned back around, she continued, "We've never had a transsexual biker in the group, but that's not saying we can start. We'll call you 'he' or 'she' or whatever you want to be called, or '-kun' or '-chan' or whatever. Same goes for your first name. If you don't feel comfortable revealing yourself to other gang members yet, we can accept you in as a boy, and then you can choose to come out of the closet like I did at any time."

Riko looked at both of them and sighed. "Perhaps I need to learn to protect myself." She then shook both of their hands. "You can count me in. We'll discuss about my status later." She then chuckled as she wiped tears away from her eyes. "You don't mind a hug, right?"

"No," Reiko said. "Not at all." The three of them hugged it out as Riko cried. "There, there, let it all out. There's no shame in it. Screw anyone who says there is."

* * *

 _ **September 1, 2018**_

"So that's what it's called," Lily replied to Saki as she showed her a website on Koutarou's laptop. "There's actually a name for who I am..."

"There is," the leader of Franchouchou replied to her as she pointed out more details on the screen. "You're not alone, Lily. There are millions of transgender people out there just like you, and they're all valid, just like you."

The young girl sighed and rubbed her eyes and forehead. "For so long, I felt like I was on my own. I had no idea this was a thing other people had. I thought I was alone in being a girl who was born as a boy." She then hugged Saki, her heart beating at a slightly slower pace as she relaxed and calmed down. "Thank you, Saki-chan. Say, I wonder, why did you know so much?"

"I came out as bisexual half a year before I died," Saki explained to her. "I liked boys and girls the same. Soon after, me and a good friend of mine rescued a girl like you, though she was older. Some jerks tried to beat her up, and we put a stop to it and let her in our biker gang." As she chuckled, she recalled Riko's abilities. "Riko was her name. She was one of the best damn fighters in our group, and after having to knock some sense into some ignorant bikers from other gangs, nobody dared to call her a boy or by her old name of Reiji. Say, that reminds me." She then pulled out a ring from her pocket. It was burned and scratched, and it looked like it had not been worn in years.

"What is that?" Lily was intrigued by the ring.

"When I died the first time," Saki explained. "I was wearing this ring on my left hand. A dear friend and I gave each other rings, and we promised to never take them off. It must have become dislodged in the crash and gotten burned. I found it after I crashed the second time before I climbed back up." She then put the ring back on her left ring finger and sighed. "Lily, that friend was once my boyfriend, but... Things did not work out that way. Before we ended our relationship, he promised to never take his ring off, and I did the same. Now that I have it back, it's never coming off again."

Lily felt a pang of sadness for Franchouchou's leader. "You're being unusually open, Saki."

"I needed to get it off my chest," the girl explained. "My friend Reiko and I did some... Things..."

"Sex," Lily immediately replied with, startling Saki.

Saki was stunned. "How do you know that?"

"I was raised a boy for most of my life," Lily assured her. "Trust me, I heard about it before I died. You don't have to sugarcoat it just because I'm the youngest in the group."

"Yeah," Saki replied, getting back on topic. "Me and Reiko had sex several times before I died. Had I lived, we may have formally begun a relationship, but..."

* * *

 _ **July 27, 1997**_

After a long romp, Saki and Reiko relaxed in a bed together. As Saki turned over, Reiko noticed something off about her. "Hey, Saki-chan."

"Hm?" Saki turned back over.

"Is everything alright?"

Saki then got up from bed, not caring that she no longer had any clothes on, and sat down before Reiko knelt beside her. "Reiko... I enjoy doing this with you..."

"I do, too," Reiko replied as she smiled and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"The thing is," Saki began. "It's not your fault, but..."

Reiko then sighed. "Saki-chan, is this about Juuzou?"

She nodded in response. "Reiko, I still wear the ring." She then showed her the ring on her left hand.

"Am I unable to replace him sexually or something?" Reiko was confused.

"It's not that. Reiko, I love doing this with you, and I haven't felt this good since the breakup, but... It feels like nobody can replace him fully." She then stood up. "Reiko, am I crazy for thinking this?"

Her friend paused as she collected her thoughts. "Saki-chan... You're not. I understand why you feel that way. You and him were close, almost like a married couple."

"In a way," she replied as she showed the ring off again. "We already were."

* * *

"Really," Saki replied to Lily in the present. "I do consider him my common-law husband in a way, when we were together. We exchanged the rings in 1996, and after that, I would write my name down as Yokota Saki occasionally. I wonder how he's doing now."

"Based on what I know," Lily comforted her a she patted her on the shoulder. "I think he's in a good place."

Saki smiled. "Thank you, Shrimpy." the two of them then laughed before they hugged. As they split, Saki noted, "On a lighter note, what were the odds concerning your old name?"

"I know, right?" The two then burst into more laughter. "'Righteous manly man?' Really? I mean, don't get me wrong, I am righteous." Lily then stood up and presented herself with confidence. "At least they got that part right. "And, you know, knowing what I know now... Eh, given my stress at the time, something would have happened anyway probably, facial hair or not." She then sighed. "On a serious note, I don't mind my family name of Go. I just didn't like the Masao part. I mean, it's too late now to change anything, so I'll stick with Hoshikawa Lily, but if I was able to, I think Go Lily would sound nice."

"It does sound nice," Saki notes to her. "Shrimpy, you can call yourself whatever you feel is most comfortable. We won't judge."

The two then continued to read several books in the library of the mansion throughout the night until the both fell asleep on the floor, books still in their hands. As Koutarou made his rounds, he noticed the two sleeping and smiled. "I'm glad Saki took her in in a way." He then kept walking past the library.


	2. Life Is Real (Junko)

_**September 26, 1980**_

In a backstage dressing room, a white-haired girl about 16 prepared herself for what would be her first televised performance. As she looked at herself in the mirror, she grabbed a vinyl record from a box that read "JUNKO'S MUSIC-DO NOT TOUCH!"

An assistant looked over and said, "You like them?"

"Yeah," she replied. "My father took me to see them when I was like 11, and from there it was like a match made in heaven." She then pulled the record out of its sleeve and placed it on a record played. "I play them to calm myself down." As she pressed play, the beginning to what was then Queen's newest album, The Game, began. Once the song began, Junko began quietly singing to herself the lyrics to Play The Game as she applied some makeup.

Then, another assistant ran in and said, "About 10 minutes, Junko!"

"Got it," she replied. She then thought to herself, _"This will be the day I stake my claim in music. I've rehearsed for God knows how long. I am ready."_

* * *

After the performance, she and her father were celebrating backstage with several crew members. "Your hard work paid off, Junko! Not a single beat was missed!"

"Thanks, Dad," she replied as she hugged him. "I rehearsed well."

Then, another crew member came running in from a break room. He was white as a ghost, and looked as if he had received shocking news. "Konno-san!"

Junko's father asked, "Which one?" Both him ad Junko were worried about the crew member.

"You'll never guess what just happened!" The crew member then took a deep breath as he collected himself. "John Bonham... He..."

Immediately, Junko ran up to him and asked him in a serious tone, "Asui-san, what happened to John Bonham?"

"He's dead," the crew member replied. "The radio just announced it."

"What? No way," Junko's father replied in disbelief. "He can't be." He then looked over at his daughter, who was now shaking. "Junko, honey, are you alright?"

"John... John is dead..." His death hit the young girl like a ton of bricks. Her first concert had been on Led Zeppelin's first tour of Japan in 1971 when she was just 7 years old, followed by seeing them again a year later on their second and last tour of the country, and the year before in 1979, she and her father had seen them again in Knebworth while he was away on business. One of the many tapes Junko had sent in for auditioning was one of her singing Communication Breakdown and Rock and Roll, among other songs she sung in both Japanese and English.

* * *

 ** _December 9, 1980_**

Junko spent most of the day locked in her room, depressed over more tragic music news. As she wiped tears from her face, she changed the vinyl records out on her record player and put in the album Imagine.

As the title track began playing, her father walked in to check on her. He was about to say something, but remained silent as John Lennon's voice came through the player. As Junko burst into tears again, her father sat down beside her and hugged her, whispering to him, "I know, honey. I miss him already, too."

* * *

 _ **October 20, 1982**_

In Fukuoka, Junko was backstage at a Queen concert. Having finished a short promotional tour recently, she had decided to follow the band throughout the Japanese leg of the Hot Space Tour. After the Fukuoka show on the 19th, she had met the band, and they invited her to backstage for the other 5 dates of the tour. As she listened to the band finish up Somebody To Love, she said to herself, "They must have skipped Play The Game."

Suddenly, as the stage went quiet, Roger Taylor, the drummer of the band, rushed to backstage from his position on stage as Junko saw the lights dim. He looked white as a ghost and sickly. She asked him as he went past, "Roger, are you alright?"

"Nope!" The drummer quickly ran to another hallway as Brian May, the guitarist, looked out.

"Bloody hell," he said to himself. "Roger's sick."

Then, the man himself, Freddie Mercury, as well as bassist John Deacon, also looked at where Roger had ran. Junko asked the three of them, "Is he gonna be okay?"

"He will be," Freddie replied back. "He better be. We have to figure out how to break to over 15,000 fans that we have to cancel the rest of the concert."

John replied to his suggestion, "Cancel?"

"What else can we do?" Brian was frustrated. "We can't continue without a bloody drummer!" He also looked deeply concerned for Roger, wondering what was wrong with him.

"I can play the drums," Junko immediately spoke up. "I know the setlist, and I know how to drum to the songs." She was eager to see the concert not get cancelled early.

"I don't know," Freddie skeptically noted. "We also need someone to fill in for his vocals."

"I can do that," Junko replied. "After all, my English is good enough speaking. I sing in it perfectly. Please, let me take over until he starts feeling better."

"Why not?" Brian spoke up in favor of it. "It wouldn't hurt." At this point, the guitarist of Queen was willing to go with anything to keep the concert going.

"Fine then," Freddie agreed. "Let's get out there. Junko, you do know what's next right?" He seemed a bit reluctant to let Junko take over.

"Calling All Girls," Junko replied.

"Correct," he replied back, impressed. "If you ever get lost, the setlist is on the floor next to the stool."

The four of them then walked back out onto stage. As Junko took her seat, she noted the bright lights above her and the screaming crowd before her. She had never played to such a large crowd before, her highest being 3,000. It was exhilarating to her.

"Okay," Freddie addressed the audience. "So, sorry for the delay we had there. Unfortunately, Roger got a bit sick, so he'll be taking a break for a bit. However, we do have a friend you may know on the drums in his place for a bit." He then pointed to Junko. "Her name is Junko Konno." He then turned to her. "Did I pronounce that right?" The audience cheered at the mention of her name.

"Yeah!"

"Okay," he continued with the audience. "She's really good, and she'll give you all a hell of a time!" He then have a hand signal to Junko to start with the next song. "This next one is in fact a Roger Taylor composition! This is a message of love called Calling All Girls!"

Junko nodded and began drumming along to the beat of Calling All Girls. Her drumming was tight and constant, playing almost exactly like Roger. She would ultimately drum and provide backing vocals from Calling All Girls up to the end of Under Pressure, upon which Roger took back over. At the end of the show, she was allowed back on stage to bow with the rest of the band for God Save The Queen.

* * *

 ** _October 1, 2018_**

In the present, Junko and Ai were listening together to a live album of the former's only headlining tour before her death. It had been released several months after her death in her memory. As they listened to her perform a cover of Maybe I'm Amazed by Paul McCartney live at the Budokan, Ai asked her, "For a Showa-era idol, I would have never guessed you'd play this on stage."

"Yeah," Junko replied. "The crowd ate it up, of course. Before the crash, I had already begun some planning about how to move on in the music industry after I got "too old" to be an idol. I was self-studying production, and I had helped to direct a film of my first night at the Budokan."

Her last comment reminded Ai of something. "Hey, Junko-chan, I want to show you something I found on YouTube."

"Youwhat?" Junko was still not fully used to the Internet. "What is that?"

"It's a video-sharing site on the Internet," Ai explained as she opened it up. "I want you to see something." She then typed in to the search bar 'Life Is Real Live in Japan 1985' and pressed enter.

"Life Is Real? That song?" Junko immediately recognized it. "I thought they only played it a couple times live in America."

"You said Queen was one of your favorite bands, right?" Ai then sighed as she clicked a video titled 'Life Is Real/Teo Torriatte by Queen at Yoyogi National Gymnasium 1985" and watched.

As the video began, Junko noticed that the band had most likely just finished up Love Of My Life. She was still getting used to the band's post-Hot Space work, and a world without Freddie Mercury. "I always liked that song. It was a nice tribute to Lennon."

Freddie in the video stated, "Okay, so... These next two songs we added to the set because about a year and a half ago, we lost a dear friend." He then wiped his forehead of sweat. "You may know her. We are going to do two songs in her memory, and the first is a song called Life Is Real."

Junko immediately knew who they were talking about: her. "Oh my God..." As the song went on, a tear fell from her eyes. Then, when a line was changed to replace John Lennon's name with her first name, she gasped as Ai hugged her. "They really..."

"I read up on what happened," Ai replied to her. "And the whole band was quoted as saying they were devastated by what happened to you. This was Freddie's last tour in Japan."

Junko nodded as the song ended. On the video, Brian May put his acoustic guitar away and then went to the piano to play Teo Torriatte. As the song began, Junko silently sang the song to herself as she tried to fight back tears. When the song reached the bridge before the third and final chorus, Junko could no longer hold back, and broke down.

As Ai comforted her, she patted her back and told her, "It's okay, it's okay."

* * *

 ** _December 20, 2018_**

A few days after Franchouchou's breakout performance, Junko relaxed by playing at the piano in the mansion to herself. Wearing headphones, she played along to piano-less backing tracks of various songs. As she played along to We Are The Champions, Ai noticed her and walked in.

Ai looked at her, noticing Junko had not even seen her walk in. She thought to herself, _"She puts so much effort into playing the piano."_

Then, the Showa era idol took her headphones off and turned around, saying, "I knew you were there, Ai."

Ai, flustered, replied, "You did?! I wasn't spying or anything!"

"It's fine," Junko told her as she smiled. "I was about to move to another song anyway." She then began to play the intro to Maybe I'm Amazed. "I've always loved this one. Ai, please, close the door."

Ai nodded and closed the door to the piano room. As she did, Junko began singing the song as she played. She sang it with such conviction that Ai smiled and nodded along to the beat. When Junko got to the chorus, she nailed the high notes as she had done many times before. As the chorus ended, she paused and looked at Ai, saying, "Heh... Maybe I was a bit too loud. I tend to go all out with that son-"

Ai bent down and took her by the chin to give her a kiss on the lips, surprising her. Junko then closed her eyes and accepted it as the two continued. As the two split, Junko got up. Ai immediately realized what she had done and said, panicked, "Junko-chan, we... Oh no..."

"Calm down," Junko assured her. "You're fine. Ai, there's nothing wrong with being a homosexual. Listen, if I was disgusted by it, would I listen to some of the music I do? Sit down, I want to talk about this."

"Okay," Ai replied as she nodded and sat down. "Junko, spending time with you has made me feel something. I've had dumb little schoolground crushes before on boys, but nothing like this."

"It's normal," Junko assured her. "I have, too. Of course, with the way idol stuff was back then, I had to keep it even more repressed than you did in your life. I'm probably going to sound insensitive or old-fashioned, but maybe the constant repression of those feelings drew us to start looking at our own sex."

Ai laughed. "It is old-fashioned thinking, but not entirely. Maybe with the pressure of being told to "stay pure" and stay away from boyfriends, we began to realize our own innate attraction to other girls to compensate, since nobody would bat an eye at two girls acting really close."

"Besides," Junko mentioned to Ai. "It felt great kissing you. I wouldn't mind doing it again." She then kissed Ai herself as the two began to hug each other and feel each other up under their clothes.


End file.
